The Things We Hold On To
by Aria Daughter of Chaos
Summary: Elena and Elijah had a one night stand and years later, when they meet again he realizes that sometimes love is like a boomerang-it always comes back...in this case he learns that sometimes the things we hold on to the most are the most important. Elena/Elijah pairing for sure as well as Jeremy/Davina. Rated M for safety purposes
1. Chapter 1

_The Things We Hold On To_

CHAPTER 1

It was days after the ball that Esther threw where she tried to bind her children to Elena in a linking spell only for it to fail in the witch's eyes as Elena was clever enough to use a different blood source-Abby Bennett's blood. The older Bennett witch gave it to her to use so that she could help her daughter Bonnie out. Elena thanked her now, as she looked at the pregnancy test that showed two pink lines and another one that actually said the word 'pregnant'.

Before it was just a niggling feeling in her gut but here's the proof of her and Elijah's little romp from when Damon undaggered him and she invited him inside, giving him something to drink when they started kissing which led her to this situation she found herself in at the moment.

Thoughts were running rampant through her mind-did he want the baby? Did he not want this child? Did she-now that was stupid! She wanted the baby, no matter who the father was.

Deciding to bite the bullet, she called him only for Rebekah to answer it in her usual snotty way.

"Why are you calling my brother doppelbitch?" Elena took a deep breath before speaking.

"I need to talk to Elijah. Is he there?" The laughter from Rebekah on the other side made her wish that she never called.

"Try calling back never again." Rebekah then hung up on her. Tears were threatening to spill but she held them in.

Looking around the room, she made a shocking and surprising choice-she was leaving. She was leaving her home and her hometown, going off to live somewhere where she hoped that she would be able to protect this little life inside her.

"Hey 'Lena!" She left her room and went towards the stairs where Matt and Jeremy were, holding a box of pizza.

"Guys? I have something that I need to tell you something important that you both have to keep a secret." She said with a slightly stronger voice than what she usually used on Jeremy when she was younger and getting him to eat his vegetables.

"I swear I won't tell a soul." Both men said quickly, after realizing that he and Elena were better off as friends, Matt was her support system.

"Remember the morning that you discovered that Elijah was leaving the house quickly?" Elena asked as she remembered that morning. Jeremy could only nod. "We slept together the night Damon undaggered him and now…now I'm pregnant, with his child."

She couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears fell and danced across her cheeks, leaving trails in their wake.

Jeremy pulled her into his arms and was consoling her as best he could. He wasn't sure if he was doing a good job or not but this was the best that he could do. He'd never been around any pregnant women in his life and he was praying to whoever was out there that this was the best way to console someone.

Matt was still in shock and as he put the pizza down, he went over and hugged her as well. Though he would like nothing better to do than beat the shit out of Elijah, he made a promise to Elena and he was going to keep it till his dying day.

* * *

Eight months later on a late June evening, Elena gave birth to a little girl in a New Orleans hospital. Elena was just happy that her daughter was born perfect and as she held her, she smiled down at her.

"I tried telling your daddy sweet baby but your auntie kept saying that I was no good and a horrible person." She whispered. "So for now on, I'll protect you as best I can."

"What are you going to name her?" Elena looked up to see Matt and Jeremy there, Matt being the one who spoke. Elena smiled and as she looked at the bundle wrapped in pink, the perfect name appeared in her mind.

"Nova. One meaning is butterfly and that's what she is. My butterfly." She said. "Nova Belle Gilbert-Mikaelson."

"Are you sure that you want his name in there?" Jeremy asked as he sat beside her with a smile, his finger going down the baby's cheek.

"He is the father and besides-I'm sure that your girlfriend Davina can ask her vampire guardian to compel the doctors to hide this from _them_." Elena told him, still happy and blissful, even as she stressed 'them', meaning the Mikaelsons.

"I'll go ask her to ask him." Jeremy said as he got up to find his witchy girlfriend Davina Claire. It was by chance that they met in St Anne's after she was revived from a blood sacrifice called 'The Harvest'. Since their meeting, they've been happy together.

Matt looked at her and smiled lightly.

"She's as beautiful as you." He said as he gave her a stuffed teddy bear. She smiled at him with warmth.

"I just hope that she won't cause much trouble like I did." She told him with a blissfully happy smile.

"I'll be there whenever you need me-because I'm sure to be her favorite uncle." He joked.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Two years had gone by and Nova grew up to have her mother's kindness as well as her deep eyes but it was her personality that was shocking-it was the perfect blend of the Petrova Fire and the Mikaelson attitude-well, her penchant for deal making.

She was the apple of her mother's eye and as Elena entrusted the seventy year old sitter as she went to work as a waitress at Marcel Gerard's vampire nightclub he decided to call 'Bloody Roses'. She had no idea that her perfect life would be turned on its head.

* * *

There was another dead body in an alleyway, this time the man was hung up like a marionette puppet on a string. The thing that made this murder different from the others was the fact that he had no scars on his face, like the others. Detective Will Kinney just stared at the corpse with slight disgust with Cami O'Connell and Vincent Griffith beside him.

"Detective!" He turned his head to a young man with boyish good looks, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed agitated as he spoke. "Detective! I need to-" he stopped short of what he was saying as he stared at the body behind him. "Son of a bitch!"

"Is there a problem?" Kinney asked.

"Your murder victim kidnapped my niece! _My two year old niece_!" The boy roared.

That had his whole attention. Even Cami and Vincent were shocked as well as angry. The sound of running made the blonde turn around to stare at the two figures.

Davina Claire and some nineteen year old boy.

"Please-please find her." Davina pleaded with Cami but both the bartender/therapist and the ex warlock knew what she did mean.

 _Please find her before Marcel does and kills whoever has her now._

"What's her name?" Vincent asked.

The nineteen year old answered.

"Nova Gilbert. I'm her uncle Jeremy. Jeremy Gilbert."

* * *

If there were ways for waking up Bonnie Bennett, having her best friend shriek wasn't one. As much as she loved Caroline...there were times that she hated her and missed Elena.

Elena was-no, is-still their best friend, no matter what. The shocking surprise that she just vanished in the middle of the night a week after the Mikaelsons left, with herself and Caroline in tow, the two girls then began to locate her as she wasn't answering their phone calls, but each time they did a locator spell it failed and just a month ago Bonnie decision to stop it. There was no point in doing it anymore; she didn't want to be found so they were going to give her a year before they resume the search again.

"Hope's missing!" Caroline cried out.

Just those words made everyone scramble out of bed and race into the one year old baby's room to find it empty.

"When I find out who did this... _I will slaughter them_!" Klaus roared through the Compound.

"Don't worry Care bear! You got me to find her and Nik to smell her out!" Kol said humorously though he was being serious.

Caroline Forbes was halfway near tears when Cami stormed into the room.

"I think Lucien's at fault!" The blonde human snarled angrily before stopping herself. "What's going on?"

"Hope was taken from us you blonde twit!" Rebekah snarled back, in a biting voice.

She looked in her pockets before handing Kol the photo.

"Have you seen her? She's two years old." Cami said softly. He looked at it and gulped, before showing it to his brothers and Stefan.

The photo showed a two year old girl in a light blue shirt and a pair of blue jeans who had Elena's eyes and curly dark hair in pigtails sitting on a tree stump with a stuffed animal clutched in her hands.

The second Elijah saw the picture; he was amazed that the girl had Elena's eyes. She looked adorable, innocent even. To him, this was humanity at its core.

"Her name's Nova." Cami told them. "Her uncle came up to me, Kinney and Vincent, angry about her abduction."

"Where's her mother?" Elijah asked his voice barely audible for humans to hear as his throat tightened up. "Or her father?"

Cami shrugged.

"All I know is that her two uncles came to us, angry about her kidnapping and that's it."

* * *

"Let's work with the assumption that both Nova and Hope were taken by the same men," Klaus said as his eyes went over the maps that Bonnie had covering the table. "As we don't have Elena's blood to trace her and Nova...we should use mine and Elijah's. To trace Hope."

Elijah had his palm facing the witch who he was learning to play nice with since her and Kol's breakup (he knew that it was a 'he said/she said' argument that he didn't want to be a part of) and Klaus did the same thing, also trying to play nice with her for Caroline's benefit.

As she chanted, the drops went straight to the Davilla Estate where Tristan de Martel lived with his sycophants.

Elijah hissed angrily under his breath. Of course the bastard would have them for some reason! He flashed away, leaving his two brothers and Bonnie in his wake.

He was going to find a way to kill Tristan!

* * *

"Matty...Matty please! Find my baby!" Elena cried. She was distraught over Nova's abduction to the point that she was physically ill.

Matt hated the way Elena was at the moment-ill and filled with worry. Jeremy was beside his sister the second she ran into the bathroom to empty her stomach again. Matt made his way over to Davina who used some of Elena's to locate the missing girl.

The location was the Davilla Estate.

* * *

The second Elijah appeared his two brothers and his frienemy Stefan were right behind him. He didn't care though-he had one thing to do and that was getting both girls back to their mothers who missed them dearly.

Aya appeared in front of the Original but was staked, as Matthew Donovan threw the sharp piece of wood through the air.

"How did you get here?" Stefan asked him as the last he knew-the boy lived in Mystic Falls.

"I live here and I work at Rousseau's as a bartender." Was his answer. By the end of the night, members of The Strix were either staked, neck snapped or bitten by Klaus. As they reached the ballroom, they saw the two. Hope was peacefully sleeping but the two year old girl was staring defiantly up at one of Elijah's sires Shen Min.

"I find it pathetic that we have you two here and still-" the 800 year old vampire snarled at her before Elijah snapped his neck.

"Stefan-you take Hope home while Mr. Donovan and I will take Nova to her mother." Elijah said calmly. "Brothers, I'm sure that you can make this one talk, I assume?" His gaze flickered over to the vampire who was all tied up.

"Oh you know we will." Kol had a dark look in his eyes.

* * *

The journey to Elena's house was long for him as Nova slept and Mr. Donovan just drove in silence. It's been years since he last saw Elena and now here he was...going off to see her as well as whomever she's with nowadays.

He never told his siblings about his... _encounter_...with Elena all those years ago as he did technically have Elena cheat on Stefan with himself and he never forgot about that night. He wanted her to come with them but when Klaus' one night stand came to them saying that she was pregnant with the hybrid's baby, they had to leave quickly.

A part of him hoped that she found a nice human male and had a big family.

He must have been lost in his thoughts when a familiar voice said his name like a prayer.

"Elijah?" He turned and saw Elena there, looking like her twenty years that she's been alive. He was still in awe of her before he smiled at her.

"Your daughter is as beautiful as you are Lovely Elena." He whispered to her.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I'M BACK! Sorry for the long hiatus but life grabbed me and things needed to be done but hopefully I'll be back and updating most of the stories including my ideas section which I do have a story idea for**

 **ON TO CHPT 3**

* * *

CHAPTER 3

She smiled at him and he nodded. He didn't need to be here any longer and as he got out of the car, towering over her in his 5'11" frame, he leaned his head down and placed a light, butterfly kiss on her forehead, inhaling her scent.

Moving away from her, he smiled and flashed to Rousseau's where he had decided to drink the bar dry in his sadness.

He could remember when it was known that she left…

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _He entered Mystic Falls with Caroline and Bonnie-both wanting to drag Elena to New Orleans-when Tyler caught Caroline in the Grill._

 _"_ _Hey! What are you doing here?" He asked, slightly curious about her sudden appearance and Elijah was staying to the shadows._

 _"_ _Bonnie and I came to drag Elena out to live with us in New Orleans!" Caroline said with such enthusiasm that it made some people smile._

 _Tyler shook his head._

 _"_ _She left-when you two took off to follow the Originals…she disappeared with Matt and Jeremy. No one's seen them since." Tyler told her. "Unless Bonnie here wants to do a locator spell in the Gilbert Residence, you're outta luck."_

 _His heart shook but he steadied it. She left her hometown with Matthew Donovan and Jeremy…_

 _He left the Grill and flashed over to the Boardinghouse only for Stefan to shrug._

 _"_ _Like Tyler said-the three of them left and I haven't seen them since." He said before staring at him curiously. "Damon's gone as well…I can hire people to watch this place as well as Elena's if you wouldn't mind if I moved in with you and your family."_

 _End Flashback_

* * *

He sighed and downed his drink, called Cami over and got a refill. His eyes were filled with sadness as he began swirling the liquid around in the glass.

"You win some, you lose some." He said softly and he downed that before calling Cami back again for another refill.

"You really need to stop this." He looked to see Marcel sitting next to him. "This little pity party you're having."

"I can see that you're having one over Rebekah." The elder said as he eyed the younger man. He shrugged.

"Tomorrow-I'm taking you to this little club I own and trust me, you'll enjoy it."

* * *

Shen Min didn't really answer them-actually, to be truthful, the man decided to just kamikaze himself which infuriated the two brothers.

"Our solid lead just killed himself Kol!" Klaus shouted. "These idiots took my baby girl and Elena's baby girl! We have nothing to show to Elijah-except this!" He shoved Shen's ring into Kol's hand.

Kol himself grinned.

"Dear brother…how many vampires do we have here from a broken neck or even better-your bite?" He asked.

Klaus could see the wheels turning in his brother's head when he realized that they had more leads as to why they kidnapped the girls.

Now the brothers grinned diabolically at each other.

The torture was just beginning for these fools.

* * *

Elena didn't seem surprised that Elijah was there but what he said and did were what surprised her. She turned her attention back onto her daughter who was holding her tightly and Elena was never so thankful for witches and vampires at the moment.

"You need to tell him." Matt said as he broke her away from her thoughts. "Elijah. Elena-you really need to tell him."

"When I'm ready Matty," she whispered softly, "when I'm ready to tell him I will but for now-let me just hold my baby."

* * *

Lucien Castle and Tristan de Martel were staring at the figure before them with evil smirks on their faces.

"You have a plan to get the witches to find a way to undo what was done to you and to your pack?" Tristan asked and the figure nodded.

The voice that spoke was low and it was hard for them to tell whether or not it was a male voice or a female one.

"I believe that those children are the perfect leverage and I want to have my revenge on the Mikaelsons. The doppelgänger's child is just collateral."

* * *

"So our new enemy is working with Tristan and Lucien?" Elijah asked once Marcel dropped him off at the Compound. "Do we know why they took Nova or even Hope?"

"The only thing that we got was that the girls were needed as was Davina." Kol said with a shake of his head. He tried hitting on her only to tell him that her boyfriend-who was transferring from some art school in Denver to Loyola-would stake him if he ever hit on her again. He backed off quickly and tried becoming her friend.

She introduced him to Holly-who was her sister and older than her by two years.

"How about we regroup tomorrow?" Caroline asked, wanting to be away from Klaus since their argument a while ago in which he called her a fool for putting herself in danger and she retorted by claiming that he was a monster.

Elijah was just waiting for the breakup at this point.

"Smart idea Care." Bonnie said instantly, wanting to be away from them all. "Though I'm going clubbing-anyone wanna come?" She asked and all of them shook their heads. "Fine then-don't wait up." She called as she strutted out of there like she owned the place.

"Never have darling and never will!" Kol shouted at her back. She flipped him off and decided to disappear into the night.

Elijah had already gone to his room but he wasn't ready to sleep yet, as something was niggling at the back of his head.

There was something familiar about Nova…he just couldn't figure out what it was.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I"m nice and here"s chpt 4**

* * *

CHAPTER 4

Marcel wasn't joking when he said that he was taking him to the club that he owned a third of. All he did was walk in and the staff smiled and called him by name.

"Just enjoy the show." He said as he sat down at a booth. The leather was a deep red color that matched with the dark wood.

"What can I get you to drink?" Elijah saw a young girl with auburn hair and stormy grey eyes staring at them. Her outfit was an old Playboy bunny costume in white-ears, tail, hose, heels-and she was smiling at them as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"I'll take the Dark Prince and my friend here wants The Peacemaker." He said to her grinning. Jotting it all down, she left and Elijah stared at him.

"The Dark Prince and The Peacemaker?" He asked and Marcel nodded.

"Drinks based off of vamps that I know, Damon knows and the third owner knows." He said in explanation. "It's basically all of our favorite drinks with our favorite blood type in it."

That made sense to him and as their drinks came back, he was surprised that The Peacemaker was his favorite scotch and his favorite blood type.

"Now…the best entertainment that money truly can't buy but I sure do love it when they try." He said as the lights hit center stage and Elena was there, in the same costume as the waitress though hers was in light blue with white ears and tail.

He was just mesmerized by her and as she sung, he couldn't help but to smile as she sounded better than Rebekah's dying cat like voice, Caroline's slightly screeching one and Bonnie's pitchy one all rolled together.

 _This must be what heaven sounds like_ …he thought dazedly. Once she finished the song, she started another one.

"I told you that you'd like this place." Marcel said, as he saw the slightly star struck look in the original's eye. "That singer is-"

"Elena. Elena Gilbert." He whispered and then he turned to Marcel with his eyes as dark as the midnight sky. "How do you know her?"

"Her little brother is dating Davina and she's been here for a while." He said opting to leave out that he's been protecting her from the Originals himself by setting himself in between them and her. "She's a friend of mine and the third owner of this place."

* * *

As the staff left, one by one, Elena was last to leave as she had to count the money and lock up when she felt that same presence that she felt last night when he dropped Nova off. Smiling, she turned to see Elijah there in a casual looking suit.

"What are you doing here Elijah?" She asked as she turned back to the money.

"Marcel brought me here." He answered her softly. "How does your husband feel about you working here?" He had to ask.

Stopping halfway, she turned back to him gaping.

"I'm single Elijah. I haven't been with anyone since I slept with Nova's father." She was out right refusing to say that it was him as she wasn't ready yet but soon, she'll spill it.

"Does he know about her?" She shook her head.

"He doesn't but don't instantly put the blame on me-or on him. There was another party to it." She told him instantaneously.

It was true. There was her story, Elijah's story and oddly enough Rebekah's story (that would be a lie).

"Do you…want me to drive you back to your house?" He was nervous, a hand going through his hair and messing it up even further.

"I'd like that. I'd like that very much." She said with a strawberry color to her cheeks.

* * *

It wasn't even an hour after Elijah dropped her off but the sounds of people knocking on her door made Elena stand up and opened it, to see Klaus and Kol there with identical smirks on their faces.

"I believe that we have something to talk about-pertaining to Elijah." Klaus said with his smirk still dancing across his face.

"Do you want to come in and talk about it?" She asked, taking in the twos now gobsmacked look. "I have a feeling that this conversation is better suited for all three parties to be inside, now don't you?"

"Why thank you darling for inviting us inside." Kol said as he sauntered in. Seeing the couch, he threw himself on it only to get off it quickly and pulling out a few Lego pieces from the cushion.

"Sorry! I knew that she hid them in there." Elena groaned as she took the pieces from Kol. "She doesn't really like to play with the Legos so now they're Jeremy's." She apologized.

"No harm no foul." Kol's easy nature was ebbing away the sleep that Elena was fighting.

"What did you want to talk about?" She asked them again softly once the door was closed and triple locked.

You can never be too sure of what can happen in the middle of the night. Especially after Nova's kidnapping, she wasn't taking any chances.

"We wanted to talk about Nova."

"So you figured it out." She sighed as she ran a hand over her face, "You both figured out that Elijah's her father."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

The two brothers were in shock before anger settled but she held up a hand.

"Don't say that I never called to tell him. Up until I was eight months, I tried calling only for someone to say that I should stop calling as I'm worthless as well as just like the others who I look like-my ancestors who the person called tramps. I stopped calling and was ready to give up on him ever finding out when I found that letter he gave me…it gave me hope that one day we could try to be together." She explained softly.

They looked at each other before they realized that it had to have been Rebekah who was saying all of that to her. She's the only one who would have access to his phone and it not look at all suspicious.

"I left when I discovered that I was pregnant. I told Jeremy and Matt, begging them really, to keep this all secret as I didn't think that any of my friends would have accepted this." She ended up finishing her explanation.

"You need to tell him." Kol said as he stared at her. "He needs to know."

She took a shuddering breath before nodding.

"I'm ready now. Just let me get her into a car seat, alright?" At their nods, she left and as she gently woke up Nova, the little girl looked at her with sleepy eyes.

"Mama?" She asked and Elena kissed her forehead.

"It's time for you to meet your father sweet one." Elena told her softly and watched as her daughter's expression went from curious to excited.

"Now?" The little girl was instantly in her mother's arms, as her mother nodded her head.

"Yes, now sweet one." Standing up, she picked up the stuffed stag that she loved and went to get the car seat. Placing it in her car, she had Nova in it and looked ready to leave.

* * *

As soon as Kol burst through the doors of the Compound, Elijah was there to tell him off when his eyes traveled to the car seat in his hands that held a sleeping Nova.

So many thoughts ran through his head, the most prominent one being that he kidnapped her from Elena.

"Kol..." Elijah got out in warning only to be surprised that Klaus walked in and had Elena with him.

"Brother-it's not what it looks like!" Kol instantly said. "Nik and I went to talk to her at her house and we discovered something out that might intrigue you."

Rebekah appeared behind Elijah and snorted delicately.

"What could possibly intrigue him about the bit-" Rebekah was stopped short by the look on Klaus' face.

"There are children here Rebekah so watch what you say!" He warned. "They don't need to hear your vulgar language."

The blonde huffed childishly at him for being reprimanded. She wouldn't say words like that around her precious little niece Hope but the doppelgänger's thing of a child she would.

"Bonnie sweetie! Caroline darling! That thing you call a friend is here!" She said snidely. She wanted the doppelgänger to know just how much she hates her.

Elena paled at the thought of having Caroline and Bonnie there but what made her want to leave and hide again was when Stefan appeared with them and...Hope.

"I... I can't do this." Elena whispered to Klaus. "I can't!"

Klaus steadied her and nodded.

"You can do this. Just believe that you can." She shook her head at him so Klaus sighed at her a little bit perturbed. "Elena... _you need to tell him or I will_!"

Her eyes went wide.

"I'll tell him...just not with everyone else around." She said in a soft voice. If only they weren't vampires, they wouldn't have been able to hear her.

Case in point, Bonnie couldn't hear her.

"Bonnie? Don't you go clubbing?" Kol asked as the witch looked ready for a night out at the clubs.

She harrumphed.

"I'm staying here with Elena." She said in a demanding voice.

Elena kept her eyes on a sleeping Nova in her car seat that Kol was holding.

"Why don't you go into my office for this talk." Klaus offered her and she nodded, walking over to Kol and kissed her daughter on the forehead. Klaus led her to his office before returning to everyone.

* * *

As she sat alone in the room, she thought about how to say to Elijah that Nova was his biological child. The same thoughts that she had when she was pregnant with Nova fluttered back into her head again, with new ones.

 _Did he want to be in Nova's life?_

 _Did he want her to live with him full time or did he want her to live with him part time?_

She was suddenly surprised when he walked into the room, his eyes downcast instead of looking at her.

"What did you need to tell me?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Nova's yours Elijah." She said, looking him dead in the eyes. "That night we spent together...she was conceived and born here in New Orleans on a warm June night."

He just stared at her before turning his head away from her as something both Dahlia and Freya said to him about how fragile a "butterfly" can be.

Nova.

One meaning is butterfly.

"You never told me." He said in a low rumbling voice.

She snorted.

"A lie! Up till I was eight months I called you but you never answered! The person who actually answered your phone told me to stop as your new girlfriend- _Hayley_ -wouldn't like it."

He went to touch her but she stepped away from him. His heart broke but he hid it carefully from her.

"Why hide her from me and my family? Your friends?"

She looked away from him.

"You all made it clear that you needed to leave. If I had stayed in Mystic Falls, rumors would have spread about me-comparing me to party girls who can't remember who their baby daddies are. I had Matt and Jeremy with me before Davina and Marcel found out and decided to help me. Damon doesn't have any idea about her otherwise he would have been in her life." Though she was speaking softly, he could hear just how sad she was. "I've been doing a damn good job of protecting her! Up till now, there hasn't been any trouble! No one knew that she existed and it's been peaceful!"

He had been wondering why they would they go after her. Elena had been right-no one knew that she was his. They knew that Hope was Klaus' and that she was the only living Mikaelson.

How did they know about Nova?


End file.
